Mind over matter: The epic crossing of the Antarctic continent - Ranulph Fiennes

On 9 November 1992 Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Michael Stroud set out from the Filchner Ice Shelf to attempt the first unassisted crossing of the Antarctic continent. It was to be a journey of epic proportions, and one that was to capture the imagination of the entire world.

For ninety-seven days the two men fought pain, starvation and snowblindness, dragging 500-pound sledges across the frozen roof of the world. They plunged into cavernous crevasses, struggled through bitter blizzards, and raced against the onset of ferocious winter.

Equipment failure and injury dogged them. They suffered gangrene and suppurating pressure sores, and hypothermia very nearly claimed their lives long before they reached the South Pole. Friendship between them turned first to tension and frustration, and then to mutual hatred.

Yet through all of this their will to succeed endured and when they were finally airlifted out, “more dead than alive”, they had completed by far the longest unsupported journey in Polar history.

It was the most extraordinary journey in the world.